Metro Washington Council afl-cio

Last week, Democrats, led by Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D, MA), Patty Murray (D, WA) and Chris Murphy (D, CT) and Reps. Rosa DeLauro (D, CT) and Bobby Scott (D, VA), introduced a bill, the Schedules That Work Act, which would push employers in fields with known scheduling abuses to create predictable and stable schedules and would protect workers who ask for schedule changes. Under the legislation, workers in fields with a record of scheduling abuses—such as food service, retail and cleaning—would get their work schedules two weeks in advance and workers would receive additional pay for being put on call without any guarantee of work, being scheduled for a split shift, if they report to work and are sent home early, or they receive schedule changes without at least 24-hour notice. Employers would be required to consider and respond to all schedule requests and grant those requests based on health, care for children or the elderly, a second job, continuing education, or job training, unless there is a legitimate business reason not to do so. Among those speaking at the event was UFCW Local 400 Executive Board member Paul Rickey, from Safeway in Falls Church. “Thanks to a strong collective bargaining contract, throughout the years Paul has been able to both advance his career and be there for his family when they needed him most,” said UFCW president Marc Perrone. - Kenneth Quinnell, AFL-CIO Now; photo (l-r): Perrone, Warren & Rickey